Robert Roberson is facing execution for the death of his toddler, Nikki, in 2002. Texas lawmakers are racing to save his life, now convinced that his conviction was the result of bad science and unfounded conclusions.
Roberson found his daughter unresponsive after a fall from the family bed. He took her to the hospital, but she died the next day. Roberson was arrested and charged with murder after Nikki was forensically diagnosed with Shaken Baby Syndrome.
There are three catastrophic failures of the medical and science communities involved with this case.
First, possible anti-autism bias. The prosecution called hospital staff at trial that claimed Roberson showed no emotion when his daughter was brought in and treated. This was cast as proof of a cold-blooded killer. However, Roberson has since been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. It’s very possible that hospital staff mistakenly interpreted normal neurodivergent emotional reactions with indifference or cruelty.
Second, there were underlying causes that could have led to Nikki’s death, prescribed by her doctors. Nikki was a chronically ill child with pneumonia at the time of her death. Doctors put her on Phenergan to great it. While within medical guidelines at the time, the drug has since been contraindicated for children under six. It can cause severe side effects, such as psychomotor hyperactivity, aggression and hallucination. In other words, conditions that might make a two-year-old roll, fall out of bed and hurt herself.
Lastly, shaken baby syndrome itself. There is a fierce debate raging now about whether shaken baby syndrome is a viable diagnosis. While no one argues that violently shaking a baby (or anyone for that matter) is good, there in increasing evidence that shaken baby syndrome is used far too broadly. Injuries said to be hallmarks of the syndrome can be acquired in other ways, such as falling out of bed. Even the syndrome discoverer, neurosurgeon Norman Guthkelch, came out against the diagnosis out of worry it was being used to wrongly convict parents of fatal abuse, as Roberson was in 2003.
His latest execution was stopped at the last minute thanks to a bipartisan committee of Texas House of Representative members who subpoenaed Roberson to testify before the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence. The Texas Supreme Court affirmed the maneuver, and Roberson’s execution date was postponed.
This has not saved Roberson’s life, though. He remains on death row while this latest legal drama plays out. In the meantime, people have testified in droves to save Roberson, including the lead detective on his case, who apologized for sending Roberson to prison.
The hope at this point is to use evidence of medical failures to convince either a judicial authority or Governor Greg Abbott to grant Roberson a new trial or clemency. There is enough doubt than even U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has expressed support for Roberson’s innocence. If Roberson is exonerated, it will be a large step forward in rectifying medical mistakes of the past and present them from being compounded in the future.
